The Exile Kiss

The sequel to When Gravity Fails and A Fire in the Sun is a book that "stands out already as one of the new year's phenomenal works" (Locus). Unjustly abandoned to die in a vast desert, Marid Audran and Friedlander Bey must cross the searing sands to avenge themselves on their enemies.

Marid Audran has risen from hustling on the streets of the decadent Budayeen ghetto to being the right-hand man of one of the Maghreb's most feared men. As an enforcer for the powerful Friedlander Bey, Marid is just beginning to enjoy his newfound wealth and privilege, when he and Bey are betrayed by a rival and accused of murder.
Sentenced to exile and abandoned to die in the vast Arabian desert, Marid and Bey must somehow survive the searing sands and make their way back to the now-hostile Budayeen--and, then, take their vengeance.
By turns thrilling and philosophical, "The Exile Kiss "is the culmination of one of the great works of modern SF.